THE RUSSIAN MILITARY HAS FALLEN ON hard times. Forces stationed in the vast region east of the Ural Mountains, with their long supply and communication lines, have been particularly hard hit by the meager defense budgets of recent years. The ground forces in the four Siberian military districts are, on average, more severely undermanned than their European counterparts. The Pacific Fleet is selling many ships for scrap and cannot deal with the massive problem of disposing of growing amounts of nuclear waste without outside help.
